Both hold up fine here if they are built right. The choice comes down to look, upkeep, and when you want to spend the money.
Cedar: cheaper now, wants attention later
Western red cedar looks better the day it goes in and costs less up front. It reads warm and natural in a way vinyl does not. The catch is upkeep. Cedar wants a coat of stain every couple of years to keep its color and shrug off the rain. Skip the stain and it still stands, it just fades to gray and weathers faster. If you like the look of natural wood and do not mind a weekend of staining now and then, cedar is a fine call.
Vinyl: more up front, almost nothing after
Vinyl costs more to install and then asks for almost nothing. It never needs paint or stain, it does not rot, and a hose takes care of the dirt. In a wet climate that low upkeep is a real perk. The trade-off is the look, which reads less natural than cedar, and the fact that a cracked panel down the road is a replacement, not a repair. For a lot of folks the no-maintenance part wins.
What each one costs over ten years
Up front, cedar is the cheaper fence and vinyl is the pricier one. Stretch it over ten years and the gap closes. Cedar adds a stain job every two or three years in materials and time, and vinyl adds close to nothing. Neither is wrong. The question is whether you would rather spend less today and keep up with it, or spend more today and forget about it.
How they handle our weather
Both hold up to Snohomish County rain when they are built right. Cedar handles moisture well on its own, but the north side grows moss and needs a wash now and then. Vinyl shrugs off rain and moss but can get brittle after years of sun and take a crack in a hard freeze or a wind-thrown branch. Neither one fails from weather alone in the years that matter. The posts are what decide that.
What actually makes a fence last
More than the material, it is the part underground. Posts set in concrete, not packed dirt, and spaced right. A cedar fence set right outlasts a vinyl one set wrong every time. That is why the cheapest bid is usually cheap in the ground, where you cannot see it. We set both cedar and vinyl, in concrete, and after a look at your yard we'll tell you which one fits your budget.
Common questions
There's no wrong answer here, only a different job in year two. We'll walk your fence line, lay out what cedar asks of you and what vinyl doesn't, and put a number on each one so you're deciding between two real figures instead of two guesses.
